Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look and an ever-changing culture through the lens of

Unchanging Truth.

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stum Street.

Since 1938, the Harvard study of adult development has followed two groups of men, one a group

of 456 boys from Boston's most troubled families and roughest neighborhoods.

The other, 268 Harvard students chosen by a professor of hygiene specifically for their

potential to become healthy, well-adjusted adults.

The focus of this longitudinal study has meant to discern those factors that best predict

a long healthy life.

The researchers that have followed these young men have maintained a stunning 84% participation

rate over the course of eight decades.

A visited home, spoke to parents, siblings, track medical exams, followed marriages,

careers, the study, which is now tracking a second generation of participants as well,

has produced a wealth of significant data.

However, in a recent article that was published in the Wall Street Journal, the director,

Dr. Robert Wallinger, an associate director, Dr. Mark Schultz, pointed to the most significant

contributing factor for physical health, mental health, and longevity according to the

data.

Quote, close personal connections are significant enough that if we had to take all

85 years of the Harvard study and boil it down to a single principal for living, one

life investment that is supported by similar findings across a variety of other studies,

it would be this.

...